Computer-based and/or electronic gaming systems are known that provide a shared virtual environment for many players to interact in a virtual world. With increased availability and connectivity to the Internet, many players from all over the world can interact in the virtual environment and perform various game objectives. Such gaming systems typically do not have a virtual world geography that parallels the real world. Location-based games use the real world as their geography. Some location-based games add virtual locations on a map that parallels the real world geography. Such games, however, are typically focused on real world objectives. These games typically do not include a virtual world that parallels the real world and that acts as a virtual game environment in which many players can interact and perform various game objectives in the parallel virtual world by navigating and performing actions in the real world.
A parallel reality game providing a shared virtual world that parallels at least a portion of the real world allows players to interact with elements of the virtual world by navigating the real world. However, when actions are primarily undertaken with reference to the virtual world, the virtual world can act as a barrier to players engaging with each other. Players interact with the virtual world, making other players seem remote or unreal. As a result, even when many individuals are playing in a geographic region of the real world, the gaming experience may feel individual rather than social.